Jack and Fabrizio: 1910 England
by WogglebugLoveProductions
Summary: Jack Dawson and his confidante Fabrizio DeRossi become heroes in a tale of interwoven lives and events that took place in London two years before the Titanic.


_England  
April 15, 1910  
_  
Fabrizio and Jack were walking side-by-side down a desolate road. The ground beneath them was rough and bumpy, and the grass was scarce, and was also more brown than green.

Above them, the sky was full of dark gray clouds, which looked ready to burst at any moment.

"Looks like a storm is brewing, Fabri," Jack said to his comrade as he studied the sky. "I think we better find shelter pretty soon."

" _Si_ , Jack," Fabrizio replied, nodding.

Evening was setting in, and it was steadily growing dark. Fabrizio shivered slightly, wrapping his brown Italian coat tightly around his shoulders as he felt the temperature drop. He remembered how, when he had been younger, he had been taught to stay indoors when it rained.

Suddenly, he heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance. He knew it meant the storm was getting closer. He had no fear of storms, though he was a bit wary of lightning, although he knew what the source of lightning was.

Suddenly, Jack stopped and pointed straight ahead. "There's a house! You see it? Up ahead!" he exclaimed with unsurpassed relief.

Fabrizio looked and, sure enough, he saw a very shabby and run-down two-story house. Its paint was chipped and peeling. Its windows were cracked and stained. It stood alone at the end of the road, and long weeds grew thickly around its edges. It had a very lonely and forbidding appearance to it.

"Ah, yes! I see _rifugio_!" Fabrizio replied. He felt both chilled and relieved to see it.

Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed across the gray, clouded sky. Fabrizio felt his heart jump when he saw it.

"Come on!"

" _Andiamo!"_

He and Jack were instantly running toward the old house in an attempt to avoid the oncoming storm.

Running shoulder-to-shoulder, they approached the house. As they ran quickly up its front steps, they heard a deep creaking noise, like the steps would break easily.

Fabrizio felt the first few drops of cold rain penetrate his clothes. He noticed spider webs were woven all around the house's exterior.

Jack tried to ring the doorbell. It apparently didn't work, so he knocked on the door. When it seemed no one was there, he found the doorknob, giving it a hard jerk as it seemed to be quite rusted.

The door swung open with a loud creak. Fabrizio and Jack both went inside immediately, and quickly closed the door behind them with another loud creak.

Fabrizio leaned against the door and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Just outside, he could hear the downpour of heavy rain.

Then, without warning, he heard an unexpected roar of thunder that seemed to come from right behind him. It shocked him slightly, and he jumped, more in surprise than in fright, with a small yelp.

Almost immediately afterward, he realized how absurd it really was and began to laugh.

Jack laughed as well. Then he looked around, surveying the room they were in.

"Would you look at this place? I bet no one has lived here for years!" he said musingly.

Fabrizio nodded his agreement as he observed the living room they stood in. The floor beneath them was rather moldy, and so were the walls. There was hardly any furniture except for a few old chairs, which were covered with thin white sheets.

He noticed there was an empty fireplace across the room. He began to walk over to it, wanting to see if it could possibly be lit.

It was quite dark, so he didn't see the small table that was next to the fireplace, and bumped into it. As he recovered from his surprise, he discovered a small metal lantern on the table. It looked ancient, yet it seemed to be just right for lighting.

He took a box of matches from his coat pocket, selected one, and brushed its tip against the lantern, remembering how his papa had shown him.

In just a fraction of a second, a little flame appeared on the match's tip. It glowed bright yellow and orange against the darkness.

Fabrizio smiled as he brought the lit match tentatively into the lantern, gracefully touching it to the wick inside it.

In an instant, the lantern was aglow with bright light. Fabrizio saw that it illuminated him and everything that was within his reach.

"Jack!" he called, grinning at his accomplishment. "I find lantern! I make light for us!"

Looking quite pleased, Jack quickly came over to him and took hold of the lantern. "Well done, Fabri," he said. "Now we can shed some light on the situation!"

Jack held the lantern and let its light shine over the barren room they stood in. There didn't seem to be anything else of interest in it, so he proposed they go upstairs.

Fabrizio followed one step behind Jack as they ascended the steps, which creaked rather noisily. He noticed how the steps seemed to be completely decorated with cobwebs. There better not be any spiders, he thought desperately. If I see a spider, I might-

It was just then that he saw a big, black spider scurry across the stairs in front of him.

He gave a cry of fright, rather like a mouse, and accidentally bumped into Jack as he jumped a step.

Jack gave a start and swung the lantern around a little. Then he looked back at Fabrizio and smiled and laughed a little. "That's all right, Fabri," he said.

Relieved, Fabrizio smiled and laughed a little as well. Then they continued to climb the stairs.

When they finally reached the top of the stairs, they entered a room that seemed even more barren than the one downstairs. Jack shined the lantern around it, and they found a couple of mattresses in one corner and a big, heavy chest made of bronze in another.

Fabrizio went to the big chest to see if it could be opened. He took hold of its lid with both of his strong hands, and it moved slightly. Thinking quickly, he pulled on it hard and lifted the lid, so the chest was wide open. Inside it, he discovered, was full of thousands of big, priceless, gleaming gold coins.

" _Mama mia!"_ Fabrizio muttered under his breath at the sight. "Jack, look at this!" he called to his friend.

Jack came to him immediately and shone the lantern on the chest full of gold. "Oh my!" he muttered. "How do you suppose all of this got to be here?"

"I do not know," Fabrizio replied. "I think we better leave it here," he added.

"You're right," said Jack with a positive nod. "It doesn't belong to us, it belongs to whoever left it here. Maybe someday they will come for it. And if we happen to find someone who needs it, we will tell them about it."

Fabrizio nodded and smiled as he closed the chest again. Then he placed his left hand over his mouth and yawned deeply.

"I'm feeling really tired myself," said Jack. "Let's get some shuteye, and hopefully the storm will be over in the morning." He gestured toward the mattresses laying on the floor.

Fabrizio smiled and laid down on one mattress as Jack laid down on the one beside it. " _Buon notte,"_ he said softly.

"Good night," said Jack as he put out the lantern.

Fabrizio closed his eyes and tried to sleep as he listened to the sound of the rain and thunder outside. Soon, he heard not just the storm, but other noises. He felt sure he could hear the sound of creaking, and footsteps falling, and things being broken, and perhaps even moaning.

He sat up on the mattress and looked around. He was surrounded by darkness, and the noises seemed to come from above him.

"Jack..." he whispered as he shivered slightly with fear.

"Fabri..." Jack was awake.

"Listen... The noises..." Fabrizio whispered into the darkness.

Jack listened for a second, then whispered, "We ought to investigate."

Fabrizio found the lantern, relit it with a new match, and held onto it as they left the room. As they followed the noises they led them to the attic, where they climbed a set of stairs and and opened a small door that opened with a loud squeak.

As they were greeted by total darkness, Fabrizio shined the lantern around and could see very little other than an old desk in one corner, and a window which was completely covered with boards. He could also see many cobwebs and holes in the walls.

As they entered the small quarters, Fabrizio felt dust swirling around on the floor at his feet. He put his hand into his coat pocket to just make sure his handkerchief was inside, and it was.

It was just then that a sudden idea came to him. "Jack, do you believe in ghosts?" He felt he had to ask.

"Well..." Jack hesitated thoughtfully. "I've never seen one, not a real one anyway. I used to love stories about them, though."

"D-Do you think this house has a real ghost?" Fabrizio muttered.

"I don't know," said Jack. " I might like to see a real one."

"In the stories I heard of them not all ghosts are evil," said Fabrizio as he tried to reassure himself. "Some are the spirits of humans."

"That's true," said Jack. "From the stories I've heard about them, they can be friendly, or just looking for peace. They haunt the houses they'd lived in because they died with unfinished business. If there is a ghost here, I hope it's friendly, for the house it haunts."

Fabrizio nodded. Then he went over to the old desk at the far end of them, where he noticed books were piled onto it, and in the middle there was a stray note of paper with writing on it, placed on top of one. Curiously, he began to reach toward it, when from out of nowhere a bat with long wings flew across his vision, and uncomfortably close to him. He gasped in fright as he brought an arm to his face and stumbled over backwards and fell onto a broken chair that crashed to the floor.

Jack came to him at once and took hold of both of his arms and lifted him from the spot. Fabrizio groaned as he got to his feet and rubbed at his side.

"Are you okay, _amico_?' Jack asked, concerned.

" _Si_ ," Fabrizio nodded. Then he remembered suddenly that when he had fallen he had seen something in the shadows. It had looked sort of white and transparent, and he couldn't make out the shape, but then he had blinked and it wasn't there anymore. It didn't know if he had really seen anything, but he knew he wanted to leave the attic now.

"Jack, let's go. I'm 'a tired and there's 'a nothing here," he said, trying to keep himself from shaking.

Jack smiled and nodded, then they left the attic and went back into the room with the mattresses and slept on them through the night.

The next morning, Fabrizio lay on the mattress, slowly waking up, and felt Jack poking him gently in the side. In his sleepy state, he didn't realize it was Jack, and murmured, "Five more minutes, Mama. . ."

Then he felt Jack trying to turn him over, and as a reflex, he reached out and turned him over. Then he opened his eyes, just as Jack turned him over, in turn, so then he leaped on him and pinned to the floor, and then Jack struggled and broke free of his grip. They began wrestling with each, laughing all the while. Jack continued to turn Fabrizio over while tickling him, and he would do the same to him. Both were careful not to be rough on each other, for they liked each other.

After about ten minutes, they stopped and lay on the floor, laughing between deep breaths.

"Ah. . . Fabri," Jack said after a moment. "Without you with me, my travels would seem boring, not to mention lonely."

Fabrizio responded by giving him a big hug.

They soon noticed that the storm was over and that the sun was shining through what was left of a window.

They both gathered their bearings and descended the stairs, and left the old house.

As they started along the road again, Jack began to sing.

 _The sun will keep on shining  
through the day,  
And we will go on dreaming,  
come what may!  
_  
Fabrizio quickly joined in, repeating it in Italian.


End file.
